Bowling Green Ballpark – MiLB Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods

Bowling Green,

Ballpark Feasibility Analysis And Neighborhood Redevelopment Plan

In 2004 B&D was engaged by the Warren County Sports Authority to perform a feasibility analysis for a professional baseball park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The study included detailed market and financial analyses and built upon the authority’s previous efforts at attracting professional baseball. We determined that the Bowling Green market ranked solidly against other Class A markets and would be able to support a franchise on the assumption that strategic marketing goals and resources would be put in place to address specific market challenges. While the regional nature of the market and the corporate market presented challenges, the extremely high target market population, competitive market size, and the lack of professional baseball supply would help alleviate these challenges. An analysis of implementation strategies led us to recommend creating a tax increment financing district to leverage the value of adjacent planned projects to support the baseball park development and limit public financing exposure. Working with the client, we identified a financing plan for a comprehensive redevelopment project that included a mix of residential, commercial, and entertainment uses. This plan was presented to the county commissioners, who approved our tax increment financing approach, which directly led to the State Legislature’s creation of the Kentucky Sports Authority in 2005, providing it with the ability to create tax increment financing districts around sports facilities. The redevelopment projects then led to the implementation of several initiatives, including a new Chamber of Commerce and Riverwalk Park. Meanwhile, the 4,559-seat, $28 million Bowling Green Ballpark opened in 2009, home to professional baseball’s Class A Bowling Green Hot Rods of the South Atlantic League.

Brailsford & Dunlavey

is a national program management firm offering innovative program management services, from strategic planning through implementation.